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The athletics department at the University of Missouri at Columbia this week posted a graphic on social media it intended to be inspirational, but which instead resulted in a backlash and an apology.
The tweet (see below) featured photographs of several members of Mizzou's intercollegiate athletics teams, with the athletes supposedly completing the phrase "I am …"
Responses from white athletes included "I am a future doctor," and "I am a future corporate [financier]." Responses from black athletes, however, were "I am an African American woman" and "I value equality."
Many on social media criticized the graphic as being racist and insensitive.
Late Wednesday, the Mizzou athletics department apologized on Twitter. "Our intent was to provide personal information about our students, but we failed," it said. "We listened and removed the post."
The athletics department also posted a video on Twitter that it said "better represents our intent to celebrate our diversity."
